FRIDAY, MAY 6, 1994
QUESTION: YOU ALWAYS SAID THAT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT DISBAND THE THREE TIERS OF ELECTIONS DURING THE CHANGEOVER, BUT DURING MR LU PING AND PWC'S TRIP IN HONG KONG, THEY ALWAYS SAID AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT THE THREE TIERS OF ELECTIONS WOULD BE DISBANDED, AND THIS MORNING HE SAID AGAIN, SO, DO YOU STILL HOPE THAT DREAM, OR STILL HOLD THAT DREAM OR PREPARE NOT FOR THAT?
GOVERNOR: I'VE SAID BEFORE THAT IT IS NO DENIAL OF CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY AFTER 1997 TO POINT OUT THAT THERE IS NO REASON WHY CHINA SHOULD THROW OUT OF THE WINDOW THE ARRANGEMENTS WHICH THE COMMUNITY REGARDS AS BEING MOST SENSIBLE AND MOST IN THE COMMUNITY'S INTERESTS. BUT I THINK IT IS A LITTLE PREMATURE TO REACH DECISIONS ON THAT. THE LEGISLATIVF COUNCIL HASN'T FINISHED DEBATING OUR BILL. I HOPE OUR BILL WILL GO THROUGH UNAMENDED BECAUSE IT'S AN EXTREMELY GOOD BILL. IF IT DOES GO THROUGH UNAMENDED, IT WILL PUT ON THE STATUTE BOOK ARRANGEMENTS WHICH ARE WHOLLY IN LINE NOT JUST WITH THE JOINT DRCLARATION BUT WITH THE BASIC LAW. LAST.
HE
QUESTION: MR PATTEN, DO YOU AGREE WITH MR DU PING, IN THE SPEECH, MENTIONED THAT STABILITY OF CHINA IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE ONE-COUNTRY- THO SYSTEMS CONCEPT, OTHERWISE, IT WILL JUST MERELY BUILD ON SAND. WHAT
YOU DO IF YOU TRY TO ASSESS THE ONE-COUNTRY-TWO-SYSTEMS CONCEPT INTO REALITY?
WILL
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GOVERNOR: T HAVE SAID ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HONG KONG, | HAPPEN TO THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO THE REGION AND THE WORLD, THAT CHINA CONTINUES ΤΟ GROW AND DEVELOP PROSPEROUSLY, PEACEFULLY AND WITH STABILITY BECAUSE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CHINA IS ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US AND ALL OF US SHOULD WANT TO SEE IT SUCCEED. I'VE MADE THAT POINT PLAIN AGAIN, AGA EN AND AGAIN. NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS COULD CONCEIVABLY WANT CHINA TO STUMBLE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS. CHINA IN FIFTEEN YEARS HAS MADE AN ASTONISHING TRANSFORMATION FROM THE SORT OF ECONOMICS WHICH, I THINK NONE OF US WOULD AGREE WITH, TO SOMETHING QUITE LIKE A MARKET ECONOMY. IT'S MANAGED THAT PASSAGE WITH SPECTACULAR AGILITY. OF COURSE, I'I' NOW FACES SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS BUT NOBODY SHOULD BE SURPRISED ABOUT
THAT'. PROBLEMS OF MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICY, INFLATION AND OVER-HEATING, PROBLEMS IN CHANGING OVER MAN-INDUSTRIES. THOSE ARE ALL PROBLEMS WHICH OTHERS HAVE TO PACKLE. THEY ARE BIGGER IN CHINA'S CASE BECAUSE CHINA IS 80 MUCH BIGGER. BUT, I HOPE AS YOU ALL DO THAT CHINA MANAGES TO COPE WITH THEM WITH THE SAME DEXTERITY WITH WHICH CHINA'S COPED WITH ITS PROBLEMS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS AND I VERY MUCH HOPE AND SO DO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE IN HONG KONG CAN PLAY A ROLE IN THAT SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT. BUT WE ALL HAVE TO RECOGNISE, YOU DON'T HAVE, I AM NOT MAKING A CHEAP POINT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MARXIST OR AN EX-MARXIST TO RECOGNISE IT THAT ECONOMICS HAS SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES THAT THERE ARE RELATIONSHIPS. AND SUCCESSFUL GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION ACCOMMODATES AND BALANCES THE TWO AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE ALL GOT TO DO AS SATISFACTORILY AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED.
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